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Nursing Sister Barbara Argo Ross was born in Brussels, Huron County, Ontario, on March 27, 1890, one of five children to Reverend John and Elsie (née Watt) Ross.

Already fully trained as a nurse, she enlisted in Toronto on March 4, 1917, with the Base Hospital (Toronto), Canadian Army Medical Corps. Shipping for Liverpool on May 29, 1917, Ross was stationed at No. 16 Canadian General Hospital (Ontario Military Hospital), Orpington, Kent, England. She later served with the No. 16 Can. Gen. Hospital in France. Following her return to Canada Ross was demobilized April 3, 1919.

Within the Ross Collection is the autograph book that was given to her as a Christmas present by fellow Nursing Sister Agnes Oliver Wharrey while stationed at Orpington in December of 1917. Over the following months Ross collected messages, drawings, poems, and other mementos while working at the No. 16 Can. Gen. Hospital. Many of the contributors to the book were Canadian service members, and where possible their names and a link to their service records have been included below. The jpgs and transcriptions of Ross’s book have been divided into five consecutive parts of approximately ten pages each.

External links:
Nursing Sister Ross’s service record can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.

Identified contributors to the Autograph Book (an asterisk before the name indicates that the location of the soldier’s service information has not been established):

Pg. 1: Nursing Sister Agnes Oliver Wharrey, C.A.M.C., service record.
Pg. 2: *A.M. Brown, 50th Battalion, page 2.
Pg. 3: Sapper Harmon Leslie Cleveland, Canadian Engineers, service record.
Pg. 4: Private George Martin Farrow, 173rd Battalion, service record.
Pg. 5 : Private Edward Boyd, 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles, service record.
Pg. 9: *Sergeant A. Green, 75th Battalion.
Pg. 11: Corporal John Ernest Rodgers, 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles, service record.
Pg. 14: Private John Cecil Kinross, 51st Battalion, service record.
Pg. 15: Private John Street, 87th Battalion, service record.
Pg. 17: Private Fred Kowalski, 102nd Battalion, service record.
Pg. 17: Private Harry Gittleson, C.A.M.C., service record.
Pg. 19: Private David Henry McCann, C.M.G.C., service record.
Pg. 23: Signaller Joseph Laird Dowgray, 13th Battalion, service record.
Pg. 27: *Signaller R. Howe, Canadian Field Artillery.
Pg. 28: Private Oliver Andrew Ferguson, 98th Battalion, service record.
Pg. 37: Private William Albert Pappa, 46th Battalion, service record.
Pg. 38: Private Charles Crawford Hutchins, Royal Canadian Regiment, service record.
Pg. 39: Private Walter Mellick Wood, 134th/48th, service record.
Pg. 40: Sapper Harmon Leslie Cleveland, Canadian Engineers, service record.
Pg. 41: Private Sydney Wallace Kenderdine, 123rd Battalion, service record.
Pg. 43: Private Edward Allan Edson, 244th Battalion, service record.
Pg. 44: Captain Willmot Edward Lenox Sparks, C.A.M.C., service record.
Pg. 45: Gunner Thomas Hatherton Howard Fortier, 4th Canadian Siege Battery, service record.

Flight Lieutenant Lawrence John Drewry was born in Whonnock, British Columbia, on December 21, 1916.

He enlisted during WWII with the Royal Canadian Air Force, initially training in Brandon, Manitoba, and later at the Royal Air Force Flying College on Darrell’s Island in Bermuda. He spent much of the war serving as a R.C.A.F. officer attached to the R.A.F., Middle East, with the No. 47 & No. 294 Squadrons.

The letters in the collection were written by Drewry to his twin sister Mildred (newly married as Mrs. John Flynn) while she was living first in Ottawa and then back home in Whonock (as it was spelled at that time).

External links:

F/L Drewry (Serv/Reg# J8629) survived the war; his service record is not open to public access at this time.

Nursing Sister Lucy Gertrude Squire, RRC, known as Gertrude, was born in Wolverhampton, England, to parents James Lane Squire and Emily Pace Squire in April 1884. The family immigrated to Canada in 1887 and settled in Norwood, Ontario. Prior to the war Squire studied nursing at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, Québec.

She sailed to England in December 1914 and attested as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps, Canadian Expeditionary Force (C.E.F.), in January 1915 in Hampstead, England. After initially serving in England and France, in July 1916 she was assigned to the Anglo-Russian Hospital in Petrograd, Russia, where she remained until the outbreak of the Russian Revolution forced a return to England in April 1917. Later that same year she spent several weeks on leave back in Canada, before retuning to work in Europe.

Squire was awarded the Royal Red Cross, 2nd Class, in October 1917. In March 1919 she was promoted to the rank of Matron (equivalent to that of Captain) but reverted in rank back to Nursing Sister (equivalent to that of Lieutenant) on her return to Canada to work at the Dominion Orthopedic Hospital in Toronto, Ontario. In June 1919 she was awarded the Royal Red Cross, 1st Class, (RRC). Her wartime service with the C.E.F. officially ended on July 5, 1920, with her appointment to Canada’s reconstituted Permanent Force.

External links:
Nursing Sister Lucy Gertrude Squire’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Squire’s appointment to rank of Nursing Sister (supernumerary) on December 21, 1914, was published in The Canada Gazette on March 6, 1915, (Vol. 48,  No. 36 , p. 2744 [p. 16 of 95 in website’s document viewer]); her promotion to Matron was published in The London Gazette on March 9, 1919, (#31546, p. 11425).
Awarding of the Royal Red Cross (2nd Class) was published in The London Gazette on October 24, 1917, (#30350, p. 10983); awarding of the Royal Red Cross (1st Class) was published in The London Gazette on June 3, 1919, (#31370, p. 6839).  

Lieutenant Robert Hampton (Hammie/Hammy) Gray, VC, DSC, was born in Trail, British Columbia, on November 2, 1917, to parents John Balfour Gray Sr. and Wilhelmina (née McAllister) Gray. Hampton had one older sister, Phyllis Wilma, and one younger brother, John (Jack) Balfour Jr. The young family soon moved to Nelson, B.C., where Hampton’s father established a business as a jeweller and watchmaker. After completing high school in Nelson in 1936, Hampton initially enrolled at the University of Alberta, later transferring to the University of British Columbia.

With Canada now at war, Gray enlisted on July 18, 1940, at HMCS Tecumseh in Calgary with the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR). After an initial training period in England, Gray was assigned to the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm for training as a fighter pilot.

While serving aboard the HMS Formidable Gray was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for “determination and address in air attacks on targets in Japan” following the sinking of a Japanese destroyer on July 28, 1945. (The London Gazette, August 21, 1945). He was killed on August 9, 1945, while leading an air raid on the naval base at Onagawa Bay, Japan. Gray was posthumously awarded the Commonwealth’s highest military decoration, the Victoria Cross (VC), “for great valor in leading an attack on a Japanese destroyer in Onagawa” (The London Gazette, Nov. 13, 1945).

The letters in the Hampton Gray Collection begin shortly after his 1940 enlistment and continue through the war to the summer of 1945. Almost all were written by Hampton to his parents in Nelson, B.C., or to his sister Phyllis in Calgary, Alberta. Many of the letters mention Hampton’s brother Jack who was serving in England with the Royal Canadian Air Force. More information on Jack Gray, including over thirty of Jack’s wartime letters, can be found in the John (Jack) Balfour Gray Collection.

External links:
Lt. Gray’s Service Record (Reg/Ser# V13438) is available online through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Gray can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

The awarding to Gray of the Distinguished Service Cross was published in The London Gazette on August 21, 1945 (# 37232, p. 7221); the awarding of the Victoria Cross was published on November 13, 1945 (# 37346, p. 5529).

Among the many memorials and tributes made to Lt. Gray’s service:
Gray is one of fourteen Canadians honoured at the Valiants Memorial in Ottawa, Ontario; is among those commemorated on the Halifax Memorial, Point Pleasant, Halifax, Nova Scotia; and is a member of Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame.

On March 12, 1946, the Geographic Board of Canada designated “Grays Peak” within the Kokanee Mountain Range, British Columbia, in remembrance of both RCNVR Lt. Robert Hampton Gray and his brother RCAF Flight Sergeant John Balfour Gray.

His mother, Mrs. Wilhelmina Gray, was appointed as the 1969 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother, participating in the 1969 Remembrance Day wreath laying ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on behalf of all mothers of children who have been lost while in military service.

[Editor’s note: Additional materials for the Robert Hampton Gray Collection, along with other members of the Gray family, have been recently received and are anticipated to be made available online in the spring of 2023.]

Target for Tonight (or Target for To-Night) is a WWII documentary film made in 1941 by the British Crown Film Unit. The film was directed and produced by Harry Watt and distributed by the British Ministry of Information associated British Film Distributors. The film follows the mission of the crew of  a Vickers Wellington bomber as they are sent on a strategic bombing mission over Germany. Much of it was shot on location at the Royal Air Force (R.A.F.) Mildenhall station, and real R.A.F. personnel were used for the majority of the casting.

It was released to both high critical acclaim and enormous public popularity, both within Great Britain and internationally. In February 1942 the film received an Academy Award as a Special Award winner “for its vivid and dramatic presentation of the heroism of the RAF.”

Most of the crew members that appear in the film did not survive the war, including Flight Sergeant John "Jack" Balfour Gray of the Royal Canadian Air Force (R.C.A.F.) who was serving attached to the R.A.F. as a Wireless Gunner at the time of the filming. Within the letters of the John Balfour Gray Collection are many references to the film and the public’s reaction to it. Jack died on February 27, 1942, when his Handley Page Hampden bomber crashed while returning from a night operation over Germany, killing all onboard. Among those R.A.F./R.C.A.F. cast members who survived the war was Jack’s friend and fellow Canadian, Flight Sergeant Henry "Harry" F.C. Humphries who makes several appearances alongside Jack in the film.

Below in the collection contents is the promotional booklet that was published with the release of the film: The Book of the famous film Target for To-Night: The Record in Text and Pictures of a Bombing Raid on Germany. The text, an adaptation of the original screenplay, was written by Paul Holt both for the booklet and for serialization in the Daily Express newspaper.

External links:
The complete video of Target for Tonight can be viewed on the Imperial War Museum’s website; the film has been divided into six separate media files of between six to eleven minutes each in length.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ record of the Target for Tonight Award.

Flight Sergeant John "Jack" Balfour Gray Jr. was born in Trail, British Columbia, on January 21, 1921, the son of John Balfour Gray Sr. and Wilhelmina (née McAllister) Gray. Jack had two older siblings: sister Phyllis Wilma and brother Robert Hampton. The family soon moved to Nelson, B.C., where Jack’s father established a business as a jeweller and watchmaker.

Jack enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force (R.C.A.F.) in Vancouver, B.C., on June 28, 1940. Following training as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, he served in England with the R.C.A.F. 144 (R.A.F.) Squadron, Bomber Command. On February 27, 1942, while returning from night operations over Germany, Jack was killed along with his three fellow crew members when their Handley Page Hampden bomber crashed at Warmsworth, near Doncaster, in Yorkshire, England. He was buried at the Doncaster (Rose Hill) Cemetery.

The letters in the collection are written by Jack to his mother and father in Nelson, B.C., and to his sister Phyllis (m. Gautschi). Among those most frequently mentioned in the letters are his brother Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray, VC, DFC, who during this time was training as a pilot with the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve. Hampton was killed on August 9, 1945, just days before the end of the war. Also frequently mentioned is Jack’s closest friend, R.C.A.F. Flight Sergeant Henry "Harry" F.C. Humphries.

In a number of his letters Jack writes about the film Target for Tonight, the Academy Award winning documentary film about an R.A.F. bomber crew conducting a bombing raid over Germany. Jack’s squadron participated in the production of the film, with Jack (and his friend Harry) appearing several times in the scenes where the aircrews are being briefed. More information is available in CLIP’s Special Items Collection Target for Tonight.

External links:
F/S John Balfour Gray’s service record (Serv/Reg# R58225) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Gray can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Lieut. Robert Hampton Gray's service record (Serv/Reg# V13438) is available online through Library and Archives Canada.
F/S Henry F.C. Humphries (Serv/Reg# R54094) survived the war; his Service Record is not open for public access at this time.

The film Target for Tonight, hosted by the Imperial War Museums website; the film has been divided into six separate media files of between six to eleven minutes each in length.

[Editor’s notes:
Collection reviewed/updated June-July 2022. Transcriptions proofed and corrections made where applicable, and content descriptions reviewed/expanded. Some new materials  have been added; no materials have been removed but duplicate postings, if present, will have been corrected.
On given name/surname use: “Jack” has been used rather than the surname/given name in order to clearly distinguish between other similarly named family members, both here and in related Gray family Collections. (”Jack” was the name most widely, and often exclusively, used by friends and family.)]

Signalman Raymond (Ray) William Culley was born in Calgary, Alberta, on June 27, 1925. In early 1943 he joined the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve. He served on the corvette HMCS Summerside until his demobilization at the end of World War II.

The collection’s only letter was written by Ray Culley while his ship was in harbour at Milford, Haven, Wales. He had just received news from his mother telling him that his younger brother Donald (Don) was thinking about joining the Navy, and as their father was away with the Army in Sicily, Ray was writing to advise Don that he was likely needed more at home with their mother. But shortly after he finished writing Ray was handed a telegram sent by his uncle with two messages: that his brother Don had been fatally injured in an accident at home; and that his father was in an Army Hospital in Birmingham. The letter to his brother was never mailed.

In 2003 Ray Culley published a book of memoirs of his time in the navy, titled His Memory Can Survive. The book was dedicated to his brother Don.

 External links:
Sig. Culley’s Military Service Record is not open for public access at this time.
A review of the book His Memory Can Survive can be read in the Canadian Naval Review, Spring 2005, p. 33.

Sergeant Thomas Nesbit Simpson, MM, was born in Northfield (present day Nanaimo), British Columbia, on August 16, 1890, son of William and Elizabeth (neé Good) Simpson. He enlisted with the 31st Regiment British Columbia Horse on August 13, 1914, followed by a transfer that September to the 5th Battalion, 2nd Infantry Brigade, and three weeks later shipped for England.

The following February of 1915 he arrived in France where he continued to serve with the 5th Battalion. Simpson was awarded the Military Medal “for bravery in the field” one month prior to his being killed in action while taking part in the Somme offensive at Courcelette. The date of his death is anomalously recorded throughout official records as September 26/27, 1916. He was buried at the Courcelette British Cemetery, Courcelette, France.

Simpson’s name is listed on the Ladysmith Cenotaph along with forty other soldiers who were born, lived, or worked in Ladysmith, B.C., and who died during the First World War. Seven of these soldiers, including Simpson, had wartime letters published by The Ladysmith Chronicle newspaper (see links below).

The complete list of soldiers in the can be found in the Ladysmith and District Historical Society collection.

External links:
Sgt. Simpson’s service record (Serv/Reg# 13306) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring him can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Simpson’s name is inscribed on the Ladysmith Cenotaph, Rotary Memorial Peace Garden, Ladysmith, B.C.
The awarding of Simpson’s Military Medal was published in The London Gazette on August 23, 1916 (# 29719, p. 8365).
A collection of WWI soldiers' letters published in the Ladysmith Chronicle was undertaken by the Ladysmith & District Historical Society through their work with the Ladysmith Archives.

Private Fredrick James Duncan Morrison was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, on December 19, 1892, to parents Murdock and Mary Morrison. Fred was still quite young when his family, which included five older sisters, moved to Ladysmith, B.C.

With prior military experience in the 101st Edmonton Regiment, he enlisted in Valcartier, Quebec, on September 24, 1914, and shipped overseas that October. He served in France with the 5th Battalion, 2nd Infantry Brigade. He was killed in action near Courcelette, France, on September 27, 1916, and is commemorated in France on the Vimy Memorial.

Morrison’s name is listed on the Ladysmith Cenotaph along with forty other soldiers who were born, lived, or worked in Ladysmith, British Columbia, and who died during the First World War. Seven of these soldiers, including Morrison, had wartime letters published by The Ladysmith Chronicle newspaper (see links below). 

The complete list of soldiers in the can be found in the Ladysmith and District Historical Society collection.

External links:
Pte. Morrison’s service record (Serv/Reg# 13016) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial Information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
memorial page honouring Morrison can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Pte. Morrison is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial, France, and on the Ladysmith Cenotaph, Rotary Memorial Peace Garden, Ladysmith, British Columbia.
A collection of WWI soldiers' letters published in The Ladysmith Chronicle was undertaken by the Ladysmith & District Historical Society through their work with the Ladysmith Archive

[Note: There are some name-related discrepancies within Duncan’s Service Record, with his first middle name variously appearing as James, John, and Jason.]

Private John Robert Lapsansky was born in Wellington, near Ladysmith, British Columbia, on April 17, 1893, to parents Joseph and Katharine Lapsansky. He enlisted in Valcartier, Québec, with the 7th Battalion, Canadian Infantry (British Columbia Regiment) on September 23, 1914, and sailed with his unit for England in October of 1914.

Lapsansky died at No. 50 Casualty Clearing Station on February 2, 1919, from broncho-pneumonia, and was buried at Huy (La Starte) Communal Cemetery in Belgium.

Lapsansky’s name is listed on the Ladysmith Cenotaph along with forty other soldiers who were born, lived, or worked in Ladysmith, British Columbia, and who died during the First World War. Seven of these soldiers, including Lapsansky, had wartime letters published by The Ladysmith Chronicle newspaper (see links below). 

The complete list of soldiers in the can be found in the Ladysmith and District Historical Society collection.

External links:
Pte. Lapsansky’s service record
 (Serv/Reg#16662) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
memorial page honouring Lapsansky can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial. 
Information and photos of the Ladysmith Cenotaph, Rotary Memorial Peace Garden, Ladysmith, British Columbia.
A collection of WWI soldiers' letters published in The Ladysmith Chronicle was undertaken by the Ladysmith & District Historical Society, through their work with the Ladysmith Archives.

Sergeant Edward Harold Kemp was born in Maldon, Essex, England, on June 20, 1883. Kemp spent several years with the Northwest Mounted Police before becoming a police constable in Ladysmith, British Columbia, prior to the war. In February of 1915 he left for Victoria, B.C., to join the militia infantry’s 88th Regiment Victoria Fusiliers, shortly followed there by his enlistment with the 48th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force on March 23, 1915.

Kemp arrived in England in July of 1915 and was transferred to the 2nd Brigade Canadian Mounted Rifles (C.M.R.) in October that same year, and proceeded with them to France on October 24, 1915.He was with the 4th Battalion C.M.R. when he was reported missing after action in June of 1916. His body was reported found three months later by an officer of the 4th German Army. His date of death was declared as June 2, 1916, and he was posthumously promoted to the rank of Sergeant. Kemp is commemorated at the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, Belgium.

Kemp’s name is listed on the Ladysmith Cenotaph along with forty other soldiers who were born, lived, or worked in Ladysmith, British Columbia, and who died during the First World War. Seven of these soldiers, including Kemp, had wartime letters published by The Ladysmith Chronicle newspaper (see links below). 

The complete list of soldiers in the can be found in the Ladysmith and District Historical Society collection.

External links:
Sgt. Kemp’s service record (Serv/Reg# 430787) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
memorial page honouring Kemp can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
His name is inscribed on the Ladysmith Cenotaph, Rotary Peace Garden, Ladysmith, British Columbia.
A collection of WWI soldiers' letters published in The Ladysmith Chronicle was undertaken by the Ladysmith & District Historical Society through their work with the Ladysmith Archives.

Pioneer John Grant was born in Fort Augustus, Scotland, on October 19, 1886, to parents Charles and Margaret Grant. Prior to enlistment he was living in Ladysmith, British Columbia, working as a carpenter. He enlisted with the 1st Pioneer Battalion in Victoria, B.C., on September 22, 1915.

Arriving in England on November 30, 1915, Grant proceeded to France in March of 1916. He was killed in action on June 13, 1916, in the trenches between Ypres and Mount Sorrel. His body was never found and he is commemorated at the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, Belgium.

Grant’s name is listed on the Ladysmith Cenotaph along with forty other soldiers who were born, lived, or worked in Ladysmith, B.C., and who died during the First World War. Seven of these soldiers, including Grant, had wartime letters published by The Ladysmith Chronicle newspaper (see links below). 

The complete list of soldiers in the can be found in the Ladysmith and District Historical Society collection.

External links:
Pioneer Grant’s Service Record (Serv/Reg# 154184) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Grant can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Pnr. Grant is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium, and his name is inscribed on the Ladysmith Cenotaph, Rotary Memorial Peace Garden, Ladysmith, B.C.
A collection of WWI soldiers' letters published in The Ladysmith Chronicle was undertaken by the Ladysmith & District Historical Society through their work with the Ladysmith Archives.

Private William “Billy” Appleby was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, to parents William and Sarah Appleby on May 12, 1885. He was living in Ladysmith at the time of his enlistment with the 103rd Battalion in Victoria, British Columbia, on January 27, 1916.

He shipped for England on board the SS Olympic in July of 1916, and proceeded to France on October 6, 1916, where he served with the 29th Battalion, Canadian Infantry, also known as “Tobin’s Tigers.”

Appleby was killed in action at Vimy Ridge during an advance on April 9, 1917. He was buried at Bois-Carre British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France.

Appleby’s name is listed on the Ladysmith Cenotaph along with forty other soldiers who were born, lived, or worked in Ladysmith, B.C., and who died during the First World War. Seven of these soldiers, including Appleby, had wartime letters published by The Ladysmith Chronicle newspaper (see links below).

The complete list of soldiers in the can be found in the Ladysmith and District Historical Society collection.

External links:
Pte. William Appleby’s service record (Serv/Reg #706843) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
memorial page honouring Appleby can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
His name is inscribed on the Ladysmith Cenotaph, Rotary Memorial Peace Garden, Ladysmith, B.C.
A collection of WWI soldiers' letters published in The Ladysmith Chronicle was undertaken by the Ladysmith & District Historical Society through their work with the Ladysmith Archives.

Appleby’s younger brother Private Herbert Appleby was killed serving with the 7th Battalion at Ypres on June 3, 1916. Pte. Herbert Appleby’s service record (Serv/Reg #428109).

Private George Samuel Fardoe was born in Brandon, Manitoba, on February 1, 1893, to parents William and Sarah Fardoe. The family later moved to Hayfield, Man., where George was working as a farmer prior to the outbreak of World War I. He enlisted in Winnipeg, Man., on December 26, 1915, with the 53rd Battalion of the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force.

Shipping for England on board the SS Empress of Britain in March 1916, he soon proceeded to France the following June where he served with the 28th Battalion. Towards the end of the war, in June 1918, he transferred to 2 Company, Canadian Forestry Corps. Fardoe returned to Canada in early May 1919 and was demobilized May 19, 1919.

While there are only two letters in the Fardoe Collection, much of his war-time correspondence was done via postcards. In recognition of this, correspondence-type postcard messages have been transcribed and added to the “Letters” section of “Collection Contents” below. The postcards themselves can also be viewed without the transcriptions in the “Postcard” section, along with over thirty other individual postcards and three souvenir postcard albums. Additionally there are three diaries Fardoe kept during his time in service for the years of 1916, 1917, and 1919, as well as several photos and other items.

A completely transcribed issue of the trench newspaper The Listening Post, edition No. 18 of July 21, 1916, published by the 7th Canadian Infantry Battalion, can be read in the “Newspaper Articles” section.

External links:
Pte. George Fardoe’s service record (Serv/Reg# 441804) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.

Corporal Thomas Hardy Barnett was born in Nafferton, Yorkshire, England, on August 20, 1892, to parents Waters Hardy and Matilda Elizabeth Barnett. He immigrated to Canada in 1910. At the time of his enlistment he was working as a sailor.

He enlisted with the 9th Canadian Mounted Rifles (C.M.R.) Regiment in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on December 30, 1914. Shortly after arriving in England in December 1915 Barnett spent several weeks with the Royal Canadian Dragoons before joining “A” Canadian Mobile Veterinary Section (C.M.V.S.), Canadian Calvary Brigade, and proceeding to France in early April 1916. He remained with the C.M.V.S. until February 1919 when he was transferred to the Fort Gary Horse. Following his return to Canada he was demobilized on June 2, 1919.

The Thomas Barnett Collection was donated together with the collection of his younger brother Private John Barnett who, like Thomas, had immigrated to Canada prior to the war. John enlisted at Saskatoon into the 9th C.M.R. in late December 1914.

Also donated were materials relating to the service of their brother Sergeant William Allison Barnett, MM. The oldest of the three brothers, William had remained in England and prior to the war was a member of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, East Yorkshire Volunteer Rifles. During the War he served with the Machine Gun Corps, 150th Company. He was killed during the Battle of the Somme on September 15, 1916, and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. He was posthumously awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field. The “Other” section below under “Collection Contents” has been reserved for materials specific to Sgt. William Barnett.

External links:
Cpl. Thomas Barnett’s service record (Serv/Reg# 114506) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.

No service record is available of Sgt. William Barnett’s service with the British Expeditionary Force.
Burial information for Sgt. William Barnett is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The awarding of Sgt. William Barnett’s Military Medal was published in the London Gazette on November 15, 1916.

Private John Barnett was born in Barnstorm, Yorkshire, England on November 24, 1894, to parents Waters Hardy and Matilda Elizabeth Barnett. His older brother Thomas had immigrated to Canada in 1910, and John joined him in early 1914 as a farmer in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Prior to his enlistment John had served in England with the 5th (Territorial Force) Battalion, Alexandra Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment). On December 28, 1914, he enlisted at Saskatoon with the 9th Canadian Mounted Rifles. He arrived in England in early December 1915, and proceeded to France on January 29, 1916, to serve with the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles (C.M.R.).

On June 2, 1916, Barnett was wounded at Ypres, and captured by the Germans as a Prisoner of War. Suffering from shrapnel wounds to his hand and arm, he was reported as a P.O.W. from Wahn, Germany, and confirmed to be at the Aachen hospital camp in July 1916. From Aachen he was transferred to the P.O.W. camp at Stendal on September 6, 1916, then later that month moved to Quedlinburg on September 29, where he remained until being repatriated to England on January 2, 1919. Following his return to Canada he was demobilized on May 19, 2019.

The letter in the collection was written by John to his mother in Bridlington, England, in December 1918, in anticipation of his imminent release; the telegram was sent shortly after confirming he was on his way back to England. The newspaper clipping has a photo of John alongside his older brother Sergeant Thomas Hardy Barnett, also of the 1st C.M.R., and his younger brother Sergeant William Allison, MM, of the British Expeditionary Force. More information about John’s brothers can be found in the Collection of Sergeant Thomas Hardy Barnett.

External link:
Pte. John Barnett’s service record (Serv/Reg# 114538) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.

Warrant Officer 2nd Class Arnold F.A. Dawkins of Victoria, British Columbia, served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He was stationed at a base at Tempsford, England, working as an air observer when his plane was shot down over France on February 19, 1943.

After a brief attempt to evade capture following the plane crash, Dawkins was apprehended by the Germans as a Prisoner of War (P.O.W.) and soon interred at the Stalag VIII-B/344 camp at Lamsdorf (present day Łambinowice) in Poland. In the closing weeks of the war he was among the many tens of thousands in the forced marches of P.O.W.s out of Poland and across Germany ahead of the advancing Russian front. He was finally liberated by the arrival of American troops on April 12, 1945, arriving safely back in England four days later.

Dawkins began keeping a diary in April of 1942 while in training in England and continued throughout the war, even during much of his time in captivity, until July of 1945. Following the war the diary was put away until the spring of 1993 when Dawkins read it again for the first time since 1945. At that time he made some minor revisions, explaining that the “writing was so small that I had the pages enlarged and typed. Abbreviations were written out in full, expressions not suitable for family reading were removed. The rest is the way I wrote it.” The diary posted here is of the document he created at that time. Extensive descriptive/explanatory notes were added by Dawkins to the entries related to the time of his capture and the two weeks immediately following it, from Feb. 19, 1943, to March 3, 1943. These have been included here with the diary entries of February 1943. Notes were also added by Dawkins following the Mar. 26, 1943, entry relating to the historical context of the Lamsdorf P.O.W. Camp and of post-Dieppe reprisals. Other minor annotations throughout were likely made during the diary transcription by Dawkins (e.g. the entry of dates June 6-17, 1942: “no entry, probably visiting relatives in North Ireland”).

Note on place names: When recording location information in his diary entries during the forced march of 1945 Dawkins often used the place names he saw on the roadside signs they passed, and these may differ from present day place names. 

External links:
W.O. Dawkins’ Service Record (Serv/Reg# R87686, P.O.W.# 27710) is not yet publicly available.
The RCAF Association provides a list of RCAF airmen taken P.O.W. from September, 1939 to the end of December, 1944, which includes Dawkins as well as some of the other P.O.W.’s mentioned in his diary.

Lieutenant Arthur Harold Madill Copeland was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on August 27, 1889. Prior to his enlistment in WWI he was a Lieutenant with the Militia’s No. 6 Canadian Army Service Corps (C.A.S.C.), Winnipeg. He enlisted for Overseas Service with the C.A.S.C. on March 8, 1915.

Beginning in March 1916, Copeland served in France with the C.A.S.C. in the 1st and 3rd Canadian Cavalry Brigade Ammunition Supply Parks. In August of 1916 he was attached to the Royal Flying Corps (R.F.C.) (technically remaining a Canadian officer, but working as a member of the British R.F.C.).

While serving as a gunner, Copeland’s plane was shot down after returning from a bombing raid; he was wounded and captured as a Prisoner of War on October 10, 1916. After a period of hospitalization to recover from gunshot wounds to his arm and leg he was transferred to the German P.O.W. Camp at Douai. Over the following two years he was moved frequently, first to Wahn bei Coln, then to Stettin, Stralsund Danholme Pommern, Augustabad bei Neubrandenburg, Schweidnitz Selesia, Holzminden, Mainz, and finally to Holzminden again.

While in captivity he was appointed to the temporary rank of Captain (a rank he kept until the end of his service). He was later “Mentioned in Reports for valuable services while in captivity, and noted accordingly in the Official Records of the Air Ministry" in the London Gazette on December 12, 1919 (see external links below). Copeland had escaped and been recaptured twice while a P.O.W. and the “valuable services” mentioned in reports may have been related to either his own escape attempts or for providing assistance to similar attempts by others.

Following his release and repatriation to England on December 14, 1918, Copeland returned to Canada and was demobilized on March 23, 1919.

The letters in the Copeland Collection were all written to Hilda R. Lailey of Toronto while Copeland was held as a German P.O.W. (following the war she became his wife; they were married for sixty-four years). With the exception of the last letter, which was written after the Armistice of Nov. 11, 1918, the letters and envelopes bear a variety of P.O.W.-related stamps indicating the content of the letters was monitored by the Germans (e.g. the first page of the letter of Nov. 14, 1916, bearing the red stamp “Geprüft. Kommandantur Wahn-Lager 63,” which roughly translates as “Checked. Headquarters Wahn-Camp 63.” The “London F.S. PAID” postmarks on the envelopes are those of the London Foreign Service.

Included in the collections “Other” contents listed below are two German documents; titled “Gefangenenlifte des Lagers,” these are pages from Prisoner Lists of the Camps, one for Wahn (western base) in January 1917, and one for Holzminden in April 1918.

The newspaper article is from the Y.M.C.A.’s wartime publication Canadian Manhood, of Jan/Feb 1917.

External links:
Lt. Copeland’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Copeland’s commission as a Lieutenant was published in The London Gazette on February 2, 1916 (#29480, p. 1897), and he was “Mentioned in Reports” on December 12, 1919 (#31691, p. 15613).

Captain Tillman Alfred Briggs, MC, was born in Victoria, British Columbia ,on June 12, 1887. Prior to enlistment he was worked as a doctor at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Victoria.

Capt. Briggs was commissioned in Victoria on November 23, 1915, with B Section of the No. 1 Field Ambulance, Canadian Army Medical Corps (C.A.M.C.). Shipping for England aboard the SS Lapland on March 11, 1916, Briggs initially trained and worked with the C.A.M.C. at Sandgate. In December he proceeded to France where he served with several units including No. 3 Canadian General Hospital and No. 9 Canadian Field Ambulance.

Briggs received the Military Cross  (awarded for acts of exemplary gallantry  during active operations) in January 1919, for attending to the wounded while under fire with the 116th Battalion Canadian Infantry, 2nd Central Ontario Regiment. He was demobilized February 16, 1920.

External links:
Capt. Briggs’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
The announcement awarding Briggs the Military Cross was published in the London Gazette on January 11, 1919 (supplement #31119, pg. 653).

[Editor’s Note: All diary transcriptions (including annotations within these transcriptions) in the Briggs Collection have been provided by the collection donor.]

Private Thomas Day was born in Walsall, England, c. 1886, and joined the British Army Reserve Forces in 1904. Day married Priscilla Anson in Chesterfield, U.K., in 1909 and they had a son, Bernard, born in Colorado, United States, in 1911. By 1912 he had found his way to Ladysmith, British Columbia.

Day rejoined the British Army with the 1st Battalion, Manchester Regiment, at the European front in December 1914. In early 1916 he was transferred to the Mesopotamia campaign. At the Battle at Sheikh Sa’ad along the Tigris River (present day Iraq) he fell dangerously ill on December 10, 1916. A sudden onset of paralysis was diagnosed as transverse myelitis and he was transferred to the Victoria War Hospital in Bombay (present day Mumbai), India, where he died on January 7, 1917.

Day’s name is listed on the Ladysmith Cenotaph along with forty other soldiers who were born, lived, or worked in Ladysmith, B.C., and who died during the First World War. Seven of these soldiers, including Day, had wartime letters published by the Ladysmith Chronicle newspaper (see links below). The complete list of soldiers in the can be found in the Ladysmith and District Historical Society collection.

External links:
Pte. Day (Reg.# 9941) served as a member of the British Army; no service file information was available.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Pte. Day is commemorated on the Kirkee War Memorial in India, and on the Ladysmith Cenotaph in Ladysmith, British Columbia.
A collection of WWI soldiers' letters published in the Ladysmith Chronicle was undertaken by the Ladysmith & District Historical Society through their work with the Ladysmith Archives.

Roderick Malcolm McKenzie served in the Royal Canadian Navy in WWII.

The letters in the McKenzie Collection date from the early months of Malcolm’s entry into the Navy. Writing home to his parents, he keeps them up to date on the details of his early training at H.M.C.S. Chippawa in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and H.M.C.S. St. Hyacinthe, in St. Hyacinthe, Québec.

External links:
No service information for Roderick Malcolm McKenzie (Serv/Reg# V-71336) is publicly accessible through Library and Archives Canada at this time.

Letters of a Canadian Stretcher Bearer, by R.A.L. [Ralph Beverly Watson]

Sergeant Ralph Beverly Watson (a.k.a. Joseph Ralph Watson) was born in Hull, England, on October 23, 1883, to parents Joseph Watson and Lavinia Sanderson. Moving to Canada sometime prior to the war, he settled in Ottawa where he married Beulah Bahnsen in January 1915. On May 25 that same year he enlisted from there as a Private in the Canadian Army Medical Corps.

He embarked for England on the troop ship SS Missanabie in July 1915 and was sent into action in France in February 1916. While hospitalized on several occasions, most seriously for gas poisoning, Watson survived through to the end of the war and was demobilized on February 3, 1919.

The Watson letters were originally published together in the book Letters of a Canadian Stretcher Bearer in 1918. The war was still ongoing at that time and the author was identified only as “R.A.L.” Other identifying details such as dates were also changed in order to preserve anonymity (e.g., the book gives his date of enlistment as May 31 instead of Watson’s actual enlistment date of May 25). The real identity of the author appears to have remained unknown for many decades, but has since been identified as Ralph Beverly Watson (born Joseph Ralph Watson, he was going by “Ralph Beverly” at the time of his marriage and enlistment).

Now in the public domain, Letters of a Canadian Stretcher Bearer was digitized by the Internet Archive Digital Library in 2008 from the collection of the University of California Libraries. The formatted letters that have been made available here were created from the Internet Archive book as part of a research project at Vancouver Island University.

External links:
Sgt. Watson's Service Record (Reg/Ser# 63) is available through Library and Archives Canada.
Letters of a Canadian Stretcher Bearer, by Ralph Beverly Watson, 1918, provided online by the Internet Foundation at archive.org, from the University of California Libraries Collection.

Nursing Sister Lena Aloa Davis was born in Beamsville, Ontario, on July 30, 1885. Prior to her enlistment Davis was working as the Superintendent of Nurses at Toronto’s Hospital for the Insane (as it was then named).

She enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, on April 7, 1915, with the 2nd Stationary Hospital, Canadian Army Medical Corps (C.A.M.C.). Arriving in England in May 1915 aboard the SS Corinthian, she went on to serve in France and Macedonia, initially with the 2nd Stationary Hospital and later with the No. 4 Canadian General Hospital, C.A.M.C.

Her nursing work put her in constant contact with infectious diseases. Her service record shows she was hospitalized with “Blackwater Fever” (malaria) in September 1916 and contracted diphtheria the following April. Her malaria returned in early 1918 and she died in hospital in England on February 21, 1918. She was buried at the St. Andrew Churchyard, Sherborne St. John, England.

External links:
Nursing Sister Lena Davis’s service record (Serv/Reg# n/a) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring N.S. Lena Davis can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Private John Gray was born in Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on April 13, 1874. The middle of nine children, John immigrated to Canada with his younger brother Edgar in 1903. Prior to his enlistment he was living in Oak Bay, Victoria, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, with his wife Edith (née Dyson) and their four young children Alex Dyson, Olive Emmie, John Harvey, and Edna Jean. He worked as an upholsterer for David Spencers Co.

On March 23, 1916, he enlisted in Victoria with Canadian Army Medical Corps. Shipping for England on board the SS Olympic in July 1916, he was sent to the Cheriton C.A.M.C. Training Depot before proceeding to France in September 1916. On arrival he was transferred to the 2nd Canadian Stationary Hospital, C.A.M.C. where he served out the remainder of his time overseas until his demobilization on May 24, 1919.

The letters in the collection were written during the war by John Gray to his daughter Olive who would have been between the ages 5 and 8 at the time. The typed transcriptions of the diaries and notebook were done by Olive Collington (née Gray), most likely in the early 1990’s. In "Collection Contents" below the diaries can be read under the "Diary Entries" heading, and the notebook under "Memoirs"; Gray's "Active Service Canadian Pay Book" is under "Printed Matter."

External links:
Pte. John Gray’s service record (Serv/Reg# 524785) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.

Private Ralph Clement Gale was born in Youngs Cove, New Brunswick, on June 19, 1895, to parents George Hamilton and Alma Kate Gale. Prior to enlistment Ralph Gale worked as a school teacher.

Having previously served in the 28th Dragoons Militia, Gale enlisted for overseas service at Amherst, Nova Scotia, with the 6th Canadian Mounted Rifles on April 21, 1915. He sailed from Canada in July of 1915 and after training in England arrived in France in October of 1915, where he transferred to the 4th Battalion Canadian Mounted Rifles in early January of 1916.

He was captured during the Battle of Mount Sorrel near Ypres, Belgium, on June 2, 1916, and was held as a Prisoner of War in Germany at the Friedrichsfeld Camp in 1916/1917, and the Munster II (Rennbahn) Camp in 1918. Just a few months prior to the Armistice he died in a P.O.W. hospital (most likely of influenza), in Dortmund, Germany, on July 29, 1918. He was buried in the Cologne Southern Cemetery, Germany.

The earliest letters in the Gale Collection were written by Ralph Gale to his mother and his sisters prior to his capture in 1916. Once he became a P.O.W. he continued to write from the prison camps in Germany. Also included is correspondence between various family members and from organizations such as the Canadian Red Cross Society, and two photos of Ralph taken while held at Friedrichsfeld. There are several letters written by Canadian soldiers who were interred with Ralph at the Friedrichsfeld and/or Munster II (Rennbahn) Camps, and who wrote to his family following his death. Links to their Service Records have been included below. (Among them is George Williams who is also connected to the collection of fellow Rennbahn P.O.W. William McLeish through their work together in camp theatrical productions.)

Ralph’s brother Captain John Roberts Gale was also in service overseas in World War One, including serving with 5th Canadian Trench Mortar Battery, 2nd Canadian. Division, France. As most of the correspondence to or from John Gale relates directly to his brother’s internment as a P.O.W., all of his letters have been included as part of the Ralph Gale Collection, although they can also be viewed separately in the Capt. John Roberts Gale Collection.

The letters from the Canadian Red Cross to the Gale family were through the work of Evelyn Rivers Bulkeley who as Head of the Prisoner of War Branch managed all requests for aid regarding Canadian P.O.W.’s throughout the period of Robert Gale’s internment.

External links:
Pte. Ralph Gale’s service record (Serv/Reg# 111184) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Pte. Ralph Gale can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Service Records of the other P.O.W.'s with letters in the Ralph Gale collection, at Library and Archives Canada:

Gunner George Henry Flewelling, 1st Canadian Divisional Ammunition Column, service record, (Serv/Reg# 43719)
Private Arnold Garfield Griffin, 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles, service record (Serv/Reg# 111209)
Private John Paine Aitchison Hayes, 9th Canadian Mounted Rifles, service record (Serv/Reg# 114326)
Private George Buford Williams, 7th Battalion, service record (Serv/Reg# 16487)